Counting my Chickens

This is a disgustingly self indulgent exercise but, please, humour me.

I've been considering my "one way" flight to the US, many many months from now.

Manchester (my airport of choice) will stop doing direct flights to Las Vegas (my airport of Foof) at the end of April. BMI have decided that their flights (which rarely have an empty seat on them) are not profitable enough.

This leaves me with a slight conundrum: How do I get to Las Vegas on that fantastic final flight?

I'll be carrying my visa plus other assorted documents (I hear an A3 sized x-ray of my chest may be part of the package) to hand to the lucky people at immigration. So, as I'll have to fly via somewhere, which airport do I choose to enter "The land of the free"?

I've been warned against Los Angeles, Miami and Philadelphia*, so I was considering New York (as it used to be the tradition to arrive there a century ago). The only thing concerning me was the connection time. The US is notorious for immigration delays for Visa Waiver folk so what would happen to a proper immigrant? Would a three-hour stopover be enough?

So I decided that I might want to travel to a UK airport that flies directly to Las Vegas. I found that Virgin Atlantic flies from London Gatwick every day. Yay!

Knowing my interview date well in advance could work to my advantage. As I'd be travelling a week or two after my interview, booking a train ticket early enough and I could get to Gatwick for £10. A hotel would cost me £50. Depending on the time of year I could get a good deal on the actual ticket too.

Of course, this is all far far in the future, but it's nice to think about it.


*Note - These are probably very lovely POE (Ports Of Entry) but bad experiences from friends and acquaintances have given then a nightmarish quality in my imagination. Sorry guys.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Some small changes to the site.

Added some useful links (two so far) and an "about us" section.

Enjoy!

About time too!

The Cheque was cashed yesterday.

Yay!!

NOA1

YAY

We have an NOA1!!!!
It's from the CSC.

(The cheque has NOT been cashed yet)

Checking

The first clue that your case is progressing (the second being the NOA1), is that the cheque you lovingly paper-clip to your I-130 gets cashed. Your case number should be written on the back of it. As we have had a three-day weekend and an inauguration since our paperwork was received at Chicago, this seems to be taking a little longer than I'd calculated. Gah!!

Also, the date of the NOA1 will be important to us as visajourney.com holds information here (on the right hand side) as to what is being currently processed. As you can see, things do not look that good at the moment. (We will (probably) be a CR-1 at the CSC (California Service Center))

Averages...

I can't recommend the website visajourney.com enough, we've linked to it a few times before in this blog but I wanted to point out what a great resource it is. There you'll find advice, useful checklists and even shortcuts. One of the things that you get drawn to are the timelines.

• Out of 483 "CR-1"s, the average time to get an interview is 400 days.
• The average number of days to get your NOA1 is 37 days
• The average processing time between the NOA1 and NOA2 is 135 days
• The average time between your NOA2 and your interview is 208 days
  (as of the 23rd of January 2009)
  

Pretty grim reading at first, but I decided to try to look on the sunny side.

These stats are for the last few years, for both the Vermont and California centres and include all attempts at visas - the ones where the forms were botched, the ones where people have "special circumstances", the ones that got lost in the mail etc...

They have a huge amount of data that you can just wander through: I looked at all of the people processed via California who are having CR-1 interviews next month - the numbers vary (with no obvious correlation to country) from a 493 day process (from I-130 to interview) down to a less scary 233 days.

None were from the UK so I checked out my fellow Brits. The most recent wait times were: 363, 157, 281, 388, 252, 193, 201, 425, 489 and 342 days from posting the I-130 to getting an interview. The ones in italics have yet to receive a visa. The average of the other eight is 309 days (which would put my interview twelve days after Bonfire Night). Of course, checking the facts behind the numbers show that one of these applications was lost for four and a half months so, hopefully, my interview will be sooner.

Of course, playing with numbers on this site only gives you a rough idea of what's in store - and we have no real idea what's going to happen in our particular case but looking at these numbers makes me feel like I'm doing something and not just sitting waiting...

Processing Aliens Faster, Better?

While we're on the subject of improving US immigration (and, yes, I'll be trying not to use the word "maybe" as much as in my previous post), workpermit.com has an article which indicates that Mr. Obama's reforms may not be such an uphill struggle (which is good news as he will be watched closely on this subject).

In the final year of the Bush administration, a record one million Americans were naturalised. If you also take into consideration that the USCIS is clearing its backlog of cases at an impressive rate (from 3.6 million cases in 2004 to 1.1 million last November (and, they say, 0 by October 2009)), maybe the new guy's job won't be quite so tough in this area at least.

Hope

Now that there's a new administration in power, maybe the long, daunting task of joining a loved one in the United States will be made shorter and easier...

On the new White House website is a page about immigration that includes the following line:

Improve Our Immigration System: Fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.

Maybe this will help my wife and I or maybe we'll be the last to trawl through this current, frustrating, procedure. I'm just glad that someone in Washington is concerned about the thousands of people who have to live apart from their loved ones for months (maybe even years in some cases), kept apart by large amounts of paperwork and small numbers of immigration workers. Maybe I'm being naive, maybe I'm wrong - but for now I'm happy to hope...

Checks, balances and waits

Of course, as this was a long weekend in the US, Foof has been unable to check whether the cheque she sent to Chicago has been cashed yet. And I doubt that much will happen today as Mr. Obama is being sworn in - I guess that a lot of public servants will be glued to their televisions.

So is this a mini-taste of the frustrations to come? Probably. So I'll give you something pretty to look at while we're waiting: a cartoon from Reason Magazine about legal ways to become a US citizen. This was meant (I guess) to show why so many people try to get into the US illegally. Enjoy!

Should it Stay or Should it Go?

One of the nicer things about the whole process of moving to the United States is that I'm allowed to bring in my personal belongings, duty and tax free. Of course it's not that easy, it never is.

There is, as always, paperwork and everything has to be accounted for. Fortunately there are many removal companies who are experienced in this.

Still, I have managed to collect a huge amount of junk in my many many years on the planet, a fair amount of which are at my parents' old house. I have started to sort through it but am staggered at the sheer amount of stuff I'd like to keep. Foof's place in the States isn't big enough for her belonging so, even if I find a good job and we get a bigger place, merging our possessions will (in the short term at least) be impossible.

I have got to be (fairly) brutal with my selection - Though, hopefully, I can put some (most?) of my things into storage once they reach the US. The duty-free time period lasts from six-months before I travel to one year after so I have plenty of time (though I guess it will seem to run out quite quickly, especially because I don't know my arrival date yet...).

ACROvation

I thought I'd take a little break here, grab a soda (see, I'm picking up the lingo already), and address something that's caught my attention.

We know that the main I-130 processing may take a long time but we're trying to be patient and prepare for what's to come.

Most things can be prepared in advance and there are various certificates to get ready for the upcoming forms but at least one is only valid for six months.

This is the "Police Certificate". As this is are a paper certificate to state that you have no criminal record it is, by definition, out of date the moment it's issued. In other countries, this doesn't seem to be an issue - in the UK, surprise surprise, it's different. This quote from the ACRO (ACPO* Criminal Records Office) form itself makes a great point: "Embassies or High Commissions will usually require you to produce a Police Certificate, which has been issued less than six (6) months before your visa interview."

This is actually quite tricky. The average waiting time for the interview (in London) from the moment you get your NOA2 (The second Notice of Approval that your I-130 generates) is currently 200 days (according to this site). But I have to send the police certificate to the NVC (National Visa Center (in the US)) as evidence with my DS-230 form. This means that my certificate stands a chance of being out of date by the time I go for my interview.

Which is why I can't get one now - I'm just going to have to play a waiting game...

(as they're only £35 I really don't mind shelling out for a second one just before the interview if that's all that's needed to get me to my wife...)



*Yes, the "A" in ACRO is, itself, an acronym. It stands for the "Association of Chief Police Officers". I know, I know...

The Windy City

The I-130 has arrived at the USCIS in Chicago.

YAY!!!

I feel a timer coming on.

Yes, yes it's totally unfair to do that, I know - but I'm gonna do it anyway...
(I updated the timeline too)

Timeline

So the timeline has now appeared on the right of the page. I'd like to say that it will grow pretty quickly but I'm more realistic than that. This may take a ridiculously long time.

Fortunately my wife is worth waiting for. (And I'll be seeing her in the spring, anyway)

Dates will be whatever they say on various documents, receipts, appointments. I'm not going to get anal about global time differences.

Speaking of which - Note that the times on this page are all US Pacific times. Just in case you thought that I was keeping really wacky hours in the UK (or doing this at work).

Oh, and I'll arrange a timer once the USPS has confirmed that the I-130 is in the hands of the USCIS

Foofer's first post

The I-130 form (along with a whole lot of other information) is on it's way to the USCIS!

The frustrating thing about this process is the lack of information on the USCIS instructions and the mis-information on the web. The link Vlad provided below has a lot of good info, although, while it says to use ACCO fasteners on your documents, this link from the USCIS website says do not use ACCO fasteners. (And, the instructions from the USCIS for the I-130 form give you no clue as to exactly how you should put your documents together).

Here's how I put the package together:

I did a cover letter (from a template found here). I put a cover sheet (in a color other than white so it would be easy for the person going through it to find each thing) in front of every item explaining what it was: "FORM I-130", etc. I fastened the check for the I-130 filing fee to the I-130 form with a paper clip. I put everything in the same order as it was listed on the cover letter. I fastened it all together with a binder clip and put it all in a large envelope and sent it Priority Mail.

I put together a binder filled with clear sheet protectors and I am keeping copies of everything I sent (and will send in the future - sadly, this is just step one) in there. I like the sheet protectors because I can page through all the documents if I need to refer back to something without putting holes in the paperwork. It also makes it easy to store oddly shaped stuff like the "passport style" photos.

I now plan on collapsing. This is tiring work. But - Vlad is well worth the bother.

I-130 as a word cloud

http://www.wordle.net/

Useful advice...

I have to post this link.

It's a really useful blog (hopefully ours will grow up to be one too) that takes you through the "spouse importing" process, step-by-step - in this case a guy is bringing his wife in from Nicaragua but the experience is essentially the same.

He has checklists and gotchas - If you're just starting out, plodding along, caught in red tape or even near the end of your struggle, I urge to you go and look at his site.

Lucky, lucky, lucky

So, Foofer was ill last Friday and couldn't put the I-130 together.

This morning I found an example I-30 and idly glanced at it...

And froze.

We'd put my details in C-17 when it should have been my wife's.
(List husband/wife and all children of your relative.)
This is for Foof to fill in, so she has to write my wife's name there - her name.

Phew!!!

I'm soooo glad we caught it as that would have delayed us. Really delayed us.

Notes on I-130

Just a few notes for anyone hunting desperately for information on how to fill in this fun fun form:

Fill it in through the pdf - it's far easier - don't print it off and fill it in by hand, only print it when you (the US citizen) are ready to sign.

Surnames should be in CAPITALS.

Don't leave blanks - fill them with either 'none' or 'n/a'.

You probably won't have an Alien Registration Number yet - don't sweat it, just put "none".

Finally...

If one of you is abroad and the other is in the US then question C-22 is a bit of a puzzler:

22. Complete the information below if your relative is in the United States and will apply for adjustment of status.
Your relative is in the United States
and will apply for adjustment of status
to that of a lawful permanent resident
at the USCIS office in:

If your relative is not eligible for adjustment
of status, he or she will apply for a visa
abroad at the American consular post in:

(City)_____ (State)______ (City)_______ (Country)________

NOTE: Designation of a U.S. embassy or consulate outside the country of your relative's last residence does not guarantee acceptance for processing by that post. Acceptance is at the discretion of the designated embassy or consulate.

As the questions begins by asking you to complete it if the relative is in the US you may think you should just ignore that - However, the section beginning "If your relative is not eligible for adjustment" shows that this is just a badly worded "or" question.

We went for:
(City) N/A (State) N/A (City) London (Country) England, UK

(We'll let you know how it turns out...)

I-130 ready to rock and roll...

My G-325A documents (with accompanying pictures) made it to Vegas yesterday meaning that, apart from picking a picture and (Foof) writing our names on the back, the I-130 is now ready to go.

Unfortunately my lovely wife is a little under the weather.

So they'll get posted soon, but not quite yet.

Once they do we'll time them (for fun).

Say hello to your first form - I-130

Yes folks it's the I-130!

Apparently this has recently been revamped and is now the first step for most people in a long road to permanent residence and beyond...

As we are married (and I'm playing by the rules and staying in the UK, not illegally hiding in the US trying to be smart) I will be applying for the CR-1 visa.

But first things first - the I-130 (Petition for Alien Relative).

It's available on a lovely pdf file that you can write on and save. It has six sections A-F and the good news (for me) is that Foofer has to fill it in as she's the one importing a fella.

Section C is all about me so, being a total narcissist, I had to fill that part in (C-22 looked a little tricky but a brief sojourn on Google helped me to nail that one). I emailed the form to Foofer. This is when she found "the checklist" online.

Basically we have to prove who we are, prove that we're married and prove that we're serious.

We need:

• A copy of our marriage certificate
• Foofer's divorce documents
• 1 x passport-sized picture of each of us taken within 30 days of sending off this darned form (A quick trip to my local Co-op for me and a brief stop in Walgreens for my love)
  
• 1 x G-325A form each (biographical data) - you do not have to repeat any information that's already on your I-130 but we did anyway, just to be on the safe side
• Any supporting evidence of a relationship.
  

That last one? Yeah, being newly-weds we didn't have mortgages or other financial documentation so we included the following:

• Wedding pictures Elvis looks soooo wonderfully tacky in them
  
• Skype logs We talk daily using Skype - there's a utility called SkypeCallExporter that can help you get the logs to use as evidence
• Travel info The only times we weren't Skyping was when we were together - copies of the confirmation emails from the airline (or eBookers.com) along with (colour) photocopies of my passport stamps (okay I scanned them and emailed them to Foof - it was quicker).

So, I filled in form G-325A, signed it (four times!) and sent it, with four photos (I'm guessing that we may need more in the future) via DHL to the States.

Once Foofer has those then she has to package everthing up, add $355 and post it to Chicago.

Fun, fun, fun...

Introduction

I'm Vlad, I'm British - My wife, Foofer, is American.
This is our story.

In November 2008 I married my sweetheart in Las Vegas, Nevada (pronounced Neh-vadda by the locals).

At the end of November I flew back to the UK.

On December 31st 2008 my wife (I'm still getting used to calling her that) received a certified copy of our wedding certificate.

Yay!

We could now start our wonderful journey through US Immigration procedures - you see, I'm greedy, I would like to live with my wife and she would like to live with me. To do this, one of us has to move to the other's country. As Foofer is very close to her family, and I have friends in the Vegas area, we decided that I would come to live with her.

Which is why this blog is called Coming to America

enjoy!